Mitt Romney refused to back down Tuesday afternoon over comments he made that "47 percent" of people in America "are dependent upon government" and "believe that they are victims."

"There are a number of retirees, members of the military and so forth who aren't paying taxes, and that's as it should be," the GOP presidential nominee told Fox News's Neil Cavuto. "But I do believe we should have enough jobs and take-home pay such that people have the privilege of higher incomes that allow them to be paying taxes. I think people would like to be paying taxes. The good news is if you're doing well enough financially that you can pay a tax. And the problem right now is you see in this country so many people have fallen into poverty that they're not paying taxes they have to rely on government and the right course to help them is not just to have government handing out but instead government helping people to get back to good jobs."